Magazine for safety razor blades



N. TEST] MAGAZINE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES A Jan. 8, 1946.

Original Filed Nov. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 25 Flg. Z.

Jan.v8, 1946. N. TESTI MAGAZINE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Origihal Filed Nov. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 8, 1946 MAGAZINE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporatlon of Delaware Original application November 11, 1944, Serial No.

562,966. Divided and this application April 12, 1945, Serial No. 587,941

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved magazine for containing safety razor blades. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a magazine constructed and arranged to be with guard elements, specifically a row of guard teeth ll, and in each corner with a projection comprise 1g an'end tooth l2 which extends somewhat beyond and below all the intermediate teeth interlocked or otherwise associated with the 5 for a purpose which will be presently described. razor-head for blade delivery and provided with The guard member is p ovided centra ly with a an inclined or wedging surface efiective to lift the threaded hole l3 for connection with the razor used blade in the razor, or cause it to be lifted, handle. Between this hole and the blade-receivand so make way for th fresh bl d ing end of the guard is provided a blade-locating Another feature of the invention consists in a r I h in n pper e rfa e whi h Sl p blade magazine equipped with a blade feeding downwardly in both directions from a central device having engaging or gripping means arpoint in 'order to facilitate the passage over the ranged to seize the used blade in its displaced rib of the solid end of a blade. Near the other position and then to withdraw it from the razor end of the uard mem r is Provided a blade-resimultaneously with the separating movement of t ining spur IS. The spur is circular in cross t razor and t magazine section and slopes upwardly from its forward edge These and other features of the invention will which is flush with the surface of the g ard; 80 be best understood and appreciated from the folthat its m edge provides n a r pt l de-relowing .description of a preferred embodiment mining Shoulderp c om aeh side 01 the thereof selected for purposes of illustration and D and lecated n t e gitudinal axis 01 shown in the accompanying drawings, in which not only the said magazine is illustrated but also one form of a razor with which the said magazine is to co-operate. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an exploded view in perspective showing the several parts of the safety razor head and a blade of the type adapted to be used in the Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of one end of the magazine. I c

For purposes of illustration, a safety razor and magazine have been selected which are designed especially for use with commercial blades of the well-known Gillette" type. The invention" is not by any means limited in its application to that or to any specific type of blade but is capable of many changes in details of construction and may be thereby adapted to safety razors and blades of other types than those herein shown.

The illustrated safety razor includes in its structure a blade-supporting or guard member III which is rectangular in outline and provided with a blade-supporting face convex in transverse contour. This member is provided along each edge the guard member are clearance holes Hi. The

threaded end of the tubular handle I! is screwed into the threaded hole It of the guard member. This connection is ordinarily not disturbed throughout the life of the razor.

Co-operating with the guard member I0 is a cap member is, similar in outline but of somewhat less width and having a transversely concave blade-engaging face. It is provided centrally with a threaded hole is for connection with the clamping spindle of the razor and with a longitudinal slot or groove 20 aflording clearance for the rib is of the guard member when the cap is brought into blade-clamping position. At its rear end the cap is provided with spaced downwardlyextending arms 2!, formed integral with an inwardly extending connecting plate or flange 22 which is spaced from the body of the cap and provided at its inner end with a circular clearance aperture 23 disposed concentrically with re" spect to the threaded hole IS. A pair of retaining pins 24 project downwardly from the inner face of the cap in position to be received with clearance in the holes it of the guard member. A clamping spindle 25 is mounted to slide freely within the tubular handle I! and is threaded at itsupper end for connection with the threaded hole I9 of the cap.

When the cap and guard are assembled, the hole IS in the cap. the hole l3 in the guard, and the aperture 23 of the connecting plate are brought into concentric alignment, and the end of the tubular handle I1 is passed through the aperture 23v and threaded into the guard Ill, thus permanently retaining the cap in position in the razor head while permitting it to move freely toward and from the guard member to clamp or release a blade interposed beneath it.

Located between the inner faces of the cap and guard members is a yielding hold-down or bladepositioning device, herein shown as a dished spring plate 26 having a central aperture 21, through which the clamping spindle 25 may be passed with clearance, and two holes 28 disposed .in its medial longitudinal axis arranged to receive the pins 24 with clearance and to be permanently located thereby symmetrically within the razor head with provision for free vertical movement. The forward end of the spring plate 26 is forked and provided with a reentrant slot 29 arranged to afford clearance for the rib l4 of the guard member. The spring plate 26 is substantially oval in outline, except that it is cut on on a transverse line at its-forward end. It will be noted that by reason of its oval shape the forward side edges of the spring plate 28 slope upwardly from the bladesupporting face of the guard member and thus facilitate the insertion of a blade beneath the spring plate. The transverse curvature of the spring plate 26 brings its side edges into bearin upon a blade interposed beneath it so that the blade is held yieldingly by the spring plate upon its seat but may be displaced upwardly against 4 the pressure of the plate.

As herein shown and described, the safety razor is adapted for use with a slotted doubleedged blade 30, best shown in Figs. 1 and 5. This blade is sharpened at both longitudinal edges and provided in its corners with reentrant notches which define elongated unsharpened portions 3! at each end of the blade. The blade is also provided with a longitudinal medial slot 32 having a central enlargement for the passage of the clamping spindle 25 and intermediate enlargements 33 shaped to fit the blade-locating projections of the different razors with which the blades are adapted for use. The slot 32 may be closed at both ends, as herein shown, or it may be open at one end. The blades may be of sheet steel .004 to .007 inch in thickness and therefore readily given transverse curvature when clamped in position between the cap and guard members of the razor head.

When the clamping spindle 25 is disengaged from the cap l8, it drops down into the inoperative position shown in Fig. 2, leaving the bladesupporting face of the guard l0 partially unobstructed. The spring plate 26 is thereupon immediately effective to separate the cap and guard members, lifting the cap upwardly to the extent permitted by the connecting plate or flange 22. The razor is shown in this condition in Fig. 2 and it will be noted that a blade 30 maynow be inserted endwise from the right or blade-receiving end of the razor. In this movement of delivery, the solid end 3| of the blade will ride up and over the rib i4 and then over the spur [5, after which the blade will progress until arrested by contact of the arms 2| of the cap with the shoulders in the advancing end of the blade. When the blade is thus arrested, it will settle itself flatly upon the face of the guard member with the spur l5 fitting in one of the intermediate enlargements 33 of the blade slot and with its central enlargement disposed in alignment with the clamping spindle so that the latter may be pushed upwardly and make threaded engagement with the threaded hole IQ of the cap. The blade-clamping operation is then effected by of the inner face of the capv in this process.

rotating the clamping spindle 25 and drawing the cap down into clamping engagement with the blade through the medium of the spring plate 28 which is conformed to the concave curvature This is the condition of the razor as illustrated in Fig. 3.

A preferred magazine will now be described whereby fresh blades may be supplied to a safety razor of the construction above outlined and the used blade removed from the razor as part of the same operation. For purposes of illustration, I have selected a blade magazine of the general type disclosed in my prior patent, No. 2,330,252, in which a stack of blades is maintained in longitudinal staggered relation. The magazine of that patent is herein shown as reconstructed foruse as an element of the novel razor and magazine combination of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiment, the magazine is shown as having an elongated tubular body 34 rectangular in cross-section and open at both ends. Its top wall is formed by two wide inturned flanges 35 and 36, separated from each other by a central opening in the form of a medial slot. The magazine may be formed from sheet metal or molded of any suitable resinous product. The flanges 35 and 36 are provided on both ends with short upstanding stop pins 31 which act to limit the path of the feed slide as will presently appear. The ends of the flanges project horizontally in spaced relation at both ends of the magazine above the razor-receivin openings therein. In the upper face of each of the flanges 35 and 36 is provided a double-headed arrow 38, one endof which is arranged to be obscured by the feed slide so that the other end of the arrow will indicate from which end of the magazine the next blade should be ejected.

An elongated blade-locating bar or rib $0 is secured to the bottom of the magazine in symmetrical position between the flanges 35 and 35. The upper edge of this bar extends slightly into the space between the opposed edges of the flanges. The bar is substantially shorter than the magazine and its ends are spaced equally within the ends of the magazine. At its upper edge it is provided with two deep notches 40 having parallel walls and beveled corners. These notches set oil solid end portions or blade stops Ill and 42 in the bar. The length of these stops 4| and 42 between their vertical edges is predetermined to establish the length of the overlap of adjacent blades.

In the bottom of the magazine is provided a well 43 in which is received the end of a bowed and forked leaf spring 44 tending at all times to lift the stack of blades in the magazine, holding the uppermost blade 30 in contact with the top flanges 35 and 38 of the magazine. The stops 4! and 42 are substantiallywider than the rib 39, filling the intermediate enlargements 33 of the blade slot and so preventing longitudinal displacement of the blades in the stack. At both ends the magazine is provided with transverse crossbars 45, each having a rounded upper face and serving temporarily to guide and lift the end of the safety razor, or the guard member thereof, when the magazine and razor are brought into operative relation. Stop pins 46 project from the bottom of the magazine in position to gauge the end of the guard i0 when the latter is inserted in the magazine. A feed slide 41 is arranged to slide freely in the magazine between the two sets of stop pins :1. For this purpose, it is provided with side flanges shaped to embrace the outer side walls of the magazine. From an inspection of Fig. 8, it will be noted that the feed slide 41 extends appreciably below the inner faces of the flanges 36 and 36 and is shaped to clear thebladelocating rib 36. It therefore engages the uppermost blade in the stackiand will feed it inone direction or the other, depending upon the longitudinal position of the blade in the stack, and at.

feed slide are resilient spring grippers 46 and 46.

The open end of these grippers is disposed slightly above the upper face of that blade 30 which is uppermost in the blade stack and at a. level above the blade-engaging portion of thefeed slide 41. The result is that when the feed slide is moved in either direction the gripping device moves with the feed slide above the blade being ejected from the magazine.

In bringing the magazine and razor into operative relation, the clamping spindle 25 of the razor is first released permitting the spring 26 to lift the cap member into the position shown in Fig. 2, meanwhile yieldingly holding the used blade in position upon its seat in the razor. The magazine is so designed as to receive telescopically one end of the guard member Ill, this telescopic inserting movement being limited by the stop pins 46. As the elongated end teeth I! of the razor pass inwardly over and beyond the cross bar 45 of the magazine, the magazine is depressed and guided so that the solid end 3| of the used blade in the razor is caught above the projecting ends of the flanges 35 and 36 of the magazine which are somewhat beveled'to facilitate this operation. The blade is thus lifted or pried off its seat as suggested in Fig. 6 against the pressure of the spring 26. When the teeth l2 have passed beyond the crossbar 46, the magazine is lifted, or the guard memberpf the razor is lowered in the magazine, to the position shown in Fig. 7 and the used blade is lifted still further from its seat. I

The magazine is provided at both ends in its side walls with inwardly deflected spring lips 60 which overlie the teeth I! of the guard members after these have passed inwardly over the cross bar 45 and hold the guard member down against the bottom of the magazine. The inward movement of the guard member I is continued until it is arrested by contact of the advancing end of the guard with the stop pins 46.

The feed slide 41 is now advanced and the uppermost blade in the stack is fed forwardly beneath the flanges 35 and 36 of the magazine and so inserted in the razor beneath the used blade which has already been lifted from its seat by the flanges of the magazine. As the feed slide is further advanced, the fresh blade passes forwardly under the used blade lifting it against the pressure of the spring hold-down plate 36 and finally freeing it from the spur l5. By the time the feed slide has completed its forward movement the fresh blade is fully located in shaving position, registering with the rib M in the razor, and the used blade occupies a superposed position above it. As the feed slide 46 approaches the end of its movement, the forked gripping device 46 engages the end of the used blade which is now held in place only yieldingly by the spring plate 26. Now when the magazine and razor are separated the used blade is drawn out of the razor as suggested in Fig. 8 and held by the gripping device of, the feed slide in a position where it may be conveniently grasped and disposed of by the user.

When it again becomes necessary to replace the blade in the razor the magazine must be reversed, end for end, this being indicated by the exposed end of the arrow 38. The telescopic relation of the razor guardwith the opposite end of the magazine is, accordingly, established and the operation may proceed as already described.

The present application is a divisionof my application Serial No. 562,966, filed November 11, 1944.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A blade magazine, having in combination, an elongated receptacle for a stack of razor blades, and a reciprocatory blade-feeding device movable on the receptacle for advancing one blade at a time from the stack therein, said feeding device having blade-gripping means operating in its advancing movement for engaging a used blade in a razor and holding it when the magazine is separated from the razor.

2. A blade magazine, having in combination, a tubular body shaped to receive telescopically one end of a safety razor head, and a blade-feeding device movable on the body of the magazine after such telescopic connection has been made to deliver a blade from the magazine to the razor and acting also to withdraw a used blade from the razor when the magazine is withdrawn.

3. A blade magazine, having in combination, a tubular body with a rectangular opening at one end, and a blade-feeding device movable with respect to the body of the magazine and having an inner contact face for advancing a blade within the magazine and a clamping outer portion for engaging a used blade in a razor associated with the magazine.

4. A blade magazine, having in combination, a

body open at one end to receive a safety razor head having a blade seat, the magazine having projections above the opening for engaging a used blade in a razor, and means within the body of the magazine for lifting the blade seat of the razor substantially into contact with said pro- Jections.

5. A blade magazine, having in combination, a

body open at one end to receive part of a safety razor head, stationary projections extending above the opening of the magazine for overlying the end of a razor presented thereto, and a transverse guide bar in the lower part of said opening co-operating with said projection in directing the magazine and razor intoblade delivering position.

6. A blade magazine, having in combination, inturned flanges forming a top wall, projecting at one end of the magazine and overhanging a razor-receiving opening in the magazine, and a transverse bar having a convex surface forming the bottom of the said opening and serving to control the path and position of a razor entering the opening of the magazine.

7. A blade magazine, having in combination, a body including inturned flanges forming. the upper jaw of a razor clamp at the end of the body and a razor-receiving opening beneath the jaw thus provided, and a bottom having a guide bar defining the lower side of said opening and .being located below the ends of said flanges to form the lower Jaw of said clamp.

8. A blade magazine, having in combination, a

tubular'enclosure open at its end, blade-engaging projections at the end of the enclosure, a razorpositioning bar beneath said projections, and stops within the enclosure for limiting the entering movement ota razor head after its end has passed the said bar.

9. A blade magazine having in combination, a body including projecting flanges forming the said opening.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

